A Survival & Mystery Mashup
3.75 out of 5 stars I’ve read a couple of Mather books and I have even more in my queue to read. When I saw the cover and the synopsis of this book I knew I was going to jump on it. It wasn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be, but it was still an interesting story. I need to read the synopsis again to see what Mather gives away there (as to not spoil anything for you here). The opening line of the synopsis really does most of the book justice. “A routine commercial flight disappears over the North Pole. No wreckage. No transponder signals.” There was a lot more to this book those. It reads like a survival thriller mixed with a mystery. There were a few times that I was thinking that it had a “Clue” feel to it. Not the funny movie necessarily, but every time you tried to figure out “whodunit” it felt like it was a guess of a person, a weapon, and a reason. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a slow burn – it grabbed my attention early, but then took its time letting the reader really feel out what was going to happen. There were numerous times that I thought for sure that things were just going to end and I was going to be livid. Thankfully, that did not happen and the last 25% of the book absolutely flew by. That’s when the final reveal(s) happened and it definitely made the book a worthwhile read. Overall, I enjoyed Polar Vortex and while it wasn’t an “Oh my god, stop what you’re doing and pick this up” it is definitely one that survival thriller and mystery lovers would enjoy.

